Interior ministry’s response to enquiries is a disgrace

I was relieved and pleased to see a recent reference in the Cyprus Mail to the current minister of the interior, Mr Petrides, since it seemed to prove that he was still with us. I had come to the conclusion that he had been abducted by aliens since his invisibility replicated that of his predecessor Mr Hasikos.

Most correspondence, however civilised, directed towards the minister is utterly ignored. Certainly, any enquiry about the status of the licence issuance applied for a crematorium following the notified and publicised passing of the Crematorium Bill is simply dismissed out of hand.

One receives just a brief reference from an official (who has now moved on) stating that there is something wrong with the content of the bill – which I believe to be unlikely.

I last wrote about this matter in October 2017, pointing out that I have a record of over 12,000 people who constantly enquire how things are going in terms of a crematorium being built, these enquiries representing the myriad faiths now extant in Cyprus alongside that of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Each member of these faiths has the right to establish their ultimate disposal in accordance with their beliefs and requirements. After 15 years of lobbying to get the bill in place, this discourteous and arrogant lack of response to perfectly legitimate follow-up enquiries is unquestionably a disgrace and entirely unacceptable for a government ministry expecting any respect.

The entire issue of a crematorium is now beyond doubt – something which any civilised country should have in place – especially considering the shortage of burial ground here; the dreadful maintenance of most existing grounds; and the ever-growing pressure from the public at large. We shamefully remain the only EU country without such a facility.

Information

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always strove to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people.
observers describe it as politically conservative